First on tap in the Men's NCAA Tournament today: ◽️️No. 7 Michigan State vs. No. 10 USC ◽️️12:15 PM | CBS 'I’m surprised to see the spread is this small.' - SethDavisHoops 👀 Follow live ⤵️
ALBANY N.Y. — Rick Pitino sat at his first NCAA Tournament dais in 1987, taking a seat at the Birmingham Civic Center as his upstart Providence Friars prepped to face UAB in the first round. On Thursday morning Pitino, wearing a white hoodie, matching baggy sweatpants and a simple pair of white Adidas with the trademark black stripes, climbed the stairs for his 71st NCAA Tournament interview.
He did what he always does. He mixed quips and charm with X and O breakdowns, and dumped so much praise on UConn, his 13th-seeded Iona’s first-round teammate, that they might as well have been 1973 UCLA. But at 70 years old, he’s also smart enough to not play games anymore. He has been through this particular tap dance more than a few times, wearing the team colors of one team and on the wish list of a few others. Once it was Kentucky blue and a bevy of pro teams.
Yes, the New York media seated in the interview and later surrounding Pitino outside his locker room had an easy commute to the state capital, but their ink is best reserved for matching a once-proud program to a man who could revive it. “The Internet is going to talk,’’ is how Iona sophomore Walter Clayton Jr., dismissed the noise, but it is not that easily silenced.
It feels like a lifetime ago that St. John’s was truly relevant, the halcyon days of Lou Carnesecca near ancient history. The school has made a history of average to uninspired hires since Looie left, allowing others in the Big East to pass by the Red Storm. Now here’s a chance at the surest, easiest fix — the native New Yorker who never lost his New York Rs, ripe for the picking, coaching at a mid-major a short drive away.
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